goodman



Feb. 21, 1956 w. D. GOODMAN PIVOTED ROD JOINT Filed July 21, 1951 MAL/4M0 Goon/14,4

IN V EN TOR.

OQOOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' A T TORNEY of the connector sleeve hasan open shank to be. pivoted about the pin to United States Patent2,735,703 PIVOTED ROD JOINT William D. Goodman, Mesquite, Tex.Application July 21, 1951, Serial No. 237,978 Claims. (Cl. 287--99) Thisinvention relates to well tools and more particularly to an extractorfor removing gravel, sand and the like from wells.

In drilling water wells, it is customary to sink well casing in the holemade by a drilling auger as soon as water is struck. It is thennecessary to extract gravel and sand from inside the lower portion ofthe casing. An extractor must therefore be provided which can be passeddown through the casing to the lower portion of the casing to gather thegravel, sand and other loose foreign material at the bottom of the well.The extractor may also be employed to clean out old wells in whichdebris has accumulated over a period of time. tractor should preferablybe provided with a connector assembly by means of which it may be easilyattached to and detached from the lower end of a stringer pipe by meansof which it is lowered into a well and by means of which it is rotatedwhile in the well. In addition, the extractor should be provided withmeans adjacent its lower end which will seize and hold pieces of debrisor foreign matter which are too large to be carried into the extractor.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new andimproved extractor for use in wells.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improvedextractor for removing gravel, sand or the like from wells.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a new andimproved extractor provided with means at its lower end for seizing andholding large pieces of debris.

It is a further object of the invention to provide'a new and improvedconnector assembly.

' It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new andimproved connector assembly for detachably connectinga well tool to astringer pipe or rod.

It is' another object of the invention to provide a new and improvedconnector assembly for detachably but non-rotatably connecting twomembers to one another.

Briefiy'stated, the new and improved extractor for removing gravel, sandand the like from wells includes a shell or barrel in which is rotatablymounted an anger. The bottom edge of the barrel is serrated and the edgeof: each serration has a portion which has the same upwardly spiralledshape as the outer edge of the screw or thread of the auger in orderthat as the outer edge of the screw approaches this portion of theserration, large objects may be 'clamped therebetween and thus carriedtothe surface with the extractor. The upper end of the shank of theaugeris provided with a transverse pin which extends through slots inopposite sides of the lower portion of a connector sleeve. The lowerportion side to permit the a position in which the shank isperpendicular to the connector sleeve. Rotation of the shank while it isin this position will remove the pin from the slots since it is shorterin length than the slots. -The upper end of the shank is provided with abore which receivesthe lower'end of a lock plunger The opposite ends ofa pin 37 reciprocably mounted in the upper end of the connector sleeve.The lock plunger prevents pivotal movement of the auger with respect tothe cylinder sleeve when its lower end is telescoped in the bore in theupper end of the shank.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingand its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal partly sectional view of the extractorshowing it connected to a stringer pipe by the connector assembly;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line,33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a Figure 2;

Figure 6 is'a fragmentary side elevation of the auger and barrel showingthe auger in one position relative to the serrations in the bottom edgeof the barrel;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side elevation of the auger and barrel ofFigure 6 showing the auger rotated to another position relative to theserrations; and,

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the auger and barrel ofthe extractor pivoted to a position at right angle to the connectorsleeve.

Referring now to the drawing, the preferred embodiment of the inventionthere illustrated comprises an extractor it connected to a stringer pipe11 by a connector assembly 12. The extractor includes a shell or barrel13 whose bottom edge is provided with serrations 14. The upper end ofthe barrel 13 is partly closed by a bracket side view taken on the line5-5 of then curve downwardly of the barrel. Each strap 16 is reduced atits lower end to form a downwardly facing ledge or shoulder 18 whichabuts the upper edge of the barrel. The lower ends of the straps may besecured to the barrel by welding or in any other conventional manner.

The central portion 17 of the bracket 15 has a downwardly facing boss 20provided with an elongated aperslot 21 in the central portion 17 isprovided to allow the pin 26 extending transversely through a suitableaperture in the shank 22 adjacent its upper end to pass through 22 has alongitudinal bore or recess 33 into which extends the lower end of alock plunger 34 which is vertically slidable in the connector sleeve 23and through the reduced portion of the bore of the connector sleeveformed by an annular flange 35 which is employed to help center the lockplunger. The connector sleeve is provided with registering elongatedvertical slots 36, one of which can be seen in Figure 5. secured to thelock plunger in any suitable manner extend outwardly through the slots36 and serves to limit vertical longitudinal movement of the lockplunger with respect to the connector sleeve.

The upper end of the connector sleeve 28. has an enlarged bore toprovide an annular shoulder or ledge 38. The enlarged bore is providedwith threads to engage the lower threaded end of the stringer pipe 11.The ledge 38 limits the distance the stringer pipe may be screwed intothe connector sleeve.

In operation, the excavator is assembled by inserting the auger 23 intothe barrel 13 and passing the upper end of the shank 22 through theenlarged portion of the slot 21 of the bracket 15. The shank 22 isrotated until the transverse pin 26 on the shank is aligned with theslot 21 so that further movement of the auger into the barrel will causethe pin 26 to pass through the slot. The shank 22 is then secured to thedepending members by holding the excavator in a position perpendicularto the dependent members 29 and 30 with the transverse pin 26 in avertical position. The excavator is then moved toward the connectorsleeve so that the end of the shank will extend between the dependentmembers 29 and 30 and above the wall 32a. The shank 22 is then rotatedto cause the trans verse pin 26 to move into the slots 31 and 32 in thedependent members. The relative positions of the various elements willthen be as illustrated in Figure 8. The extractor 10 is then allowed topivot in a counter-clockwise manner (Fig. 8) to a vertical position. Thecorners of the dependent members 29 and 30 opposite the connecting wall32a are rounded off, as at 40, so that the central portion 17 of thebracket will be firmly held between the lower ends of the dependentmembers and the collar 24 on the shank 22. The lock plunger 34, which upto this intsant has been held in its uppermost position, is allowed todescend and its lower end enters the bore 33 in the upper end of theshank 22 to prevent pivotal movement of the extractor relative to theconnector assembly 12.

If it is desired to detach the excavator from the connector assembly,the above sequence of operation is reversed. The lock plunger 34 isfirst moved upwardly, the excavator is pivoted upwardly until it reachesthe position shown in Figure 8, the shank 22 is rotated to move the endsof the transverse pin 26 from the slots 31 and 32 in the dependentmembers 29 and 30, and the excavator is then moved to the left to removethe shank 22 from between the dependent members.

In use excavator 10 is lowered into the casing of a well which is to becleaned by means of the stringer pipe 11 until the excavator reaches thebottom of the well.

The stringer pipe is then rotated in the direction indicated I by thearrows in the drawing by hand or any suitable conventional machinery.Since the bottom edge of the stringer pipe abuts the ledge 38 in theconnector sleeve, the sleeve is forced to rotate with the stringer pipe.The edges of the slots will bear against the ends of the transverse pin26 of the auger 23 and the auger also will be forced to rotate with thestringer pipe. The barrel 13, due to frictional forces, will also tendto rotate but its rotary movement will soon cease as the serrations 14dig into the gravel or sand at the bottom of the well. The auger 13 willthen continue to rotate forcing up gravel and sand into the barrel 13 byits helical screw 41 until the barrel 13 is filled and some of the loadof gravel and sand will come into contact with the bracket 15. Thefrictional forces between the auger and the barrel will increase to thepoint where the barrel again begins to rotate with the auger. Theresulting increase in the force necessary to rotate the stringer pipe iseasily detachable and indicates that the excavator is full. The stringerpipe is pulled up to the surface in any conventional manner. Any waterin the barrel will escape through the apertures 42 provided in thebarrel.

When the loaded excavator 10 is brought above the surface of the earthor the working platform, it is unloaded and again sent down to pick up aload. This process is repeated until the, well is dug to a desiredlevel.

In many cases rocks or pieces of foreign matter found at the bottom ofthe well are so large that they cannot be carried into the barrel 13.Such large objects may be seized or held between the serrations 14 andthe screw 41 of the auger. In order to facilitate this seizing of largeobjects, at least one portion, as at 43, of the lower edge of eachserration 14 has the same curve as the outer edge of the screw so thatthe vertical spacing between the screw and this portion 43 of the loweredge of a serration will decrease as the auger rotates relative to thebarrel 13. Figure 6 shows a large vertical gap or spacing and Figure 7shows how the gap may be decreased by rotating the auger. It will beevident therefore that any portion of a large object disposed betweenthe screw 41 and the portion 43 will be clamped therebetween if theobject is so large it cannot be carried up into the barrel. The largeobject can then be removed from the hole by raising the excavator abovethe surface.

It will be evident now that an excavator 10 for removing gravel, sandandv like materials from wells has been illustrated and described whichis easily and quickly attachable to a stringer rod by means of aconnector assembly 12. It will be further seen that the serrations 14and the screw 41 of the auger 23 are so formed that large objects may beclamped therebetween to be carried from the well to the surface by theraising of the excavator.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made in the illustrated invention without departingfrom the invention andit is intended, therefore, in the appended claimsto cover all such changesand modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A connector for detachably securing a driving member to a drivenmember, the latter having an axially bored elongate shank and atransverse pin extending therethrough below the bore thereof, saidconnector comprising: a sleeve having a pair of diametrically opposedelongate slots therein, an end member on said sleeve having an open sideand matching elongate slots in opposite walls thereof, said elongateshank being receivable in said end member between said opposing wallswith the ends of said transverse pin extending into the slots of saidwalls, said shank being pivotable about said transverse pin to aposition perpendicular to said sleeve, a plunger reciprocable in saidsleeve and receivable in the bore of saidshank for rigidly securing saidsleeve in axial alignment with said shank, and means carried by saidplunger and operable in the slots of said sleeve for actuating saidplunger.

2. A connector for detachably securing a driving member to adrivenmember having an elongate shank provided with an axial bore in oneend and a transverse pin, said connector comprising a sleeve joined atone end to said driving member and having diametrical slots therein, amember of substantially square cross-section formed on the other end ofsaid sleeve having an open side for the reception of the end of saidshank, said latter member having matched slots in opposite walls thereoffor receiving the transverse pin of said shank about which said shank isrotatable to dispose said shank axially with said sleeve, a plungermovable axially in said sleeve and receivable at one end in the bore ofsaid shank to hold said sleeve and shank in axially alignedrelationship, and means carried by said plunger and extending throughthe slots of said sleeve for actuating said plunger.

3. A connector for joining a, driving member to a driven member havinga,shank having a transverse pin adjacent one end thereof andan axialbore in said end, said connector comprising a sleeve havingdiametrically opposed slots therein, a member formed on an end of saidsleeve having opposed walls provided with registering slots and betweenwhich walls the end of said shank is receivable at right angles to saidsleeve for rotation to engage said transverse pin with said registeringslots to define in said pin a pivot about which said shank is rotatableinto axial alignment with said sleeve, means reciprocable in said sleeveand receivable in the bore in the end of said shank to hold said shankand sleeve in axial alignment and means carried by said reciprocablemeans and disposed in the slots of said sleeve for actuating saidreciprocable means.

4. A connector for securing a driving member to a driven member havingan elongate shank provided with a transverse member adjacent one end,said connector comprising a sleeve, a member carried by the lower end ofsaid sleeve and having opposed walls, provided with longitudinalregistering slots, and a connecting wall be tween said opposed walls,said shank end being receivable between said walls at right anglesthereto and pivotable to align saidtransverse member with said slots forreception thereby and received therein, said transverse member defininga pivot about which said shank is pivotable into axial alignment withsaid sleeve, and means for locking said shank and sleeve in axiallyaligned relationship.

5. The structure of claim 4, said locking means comprising a plungerreciprocable longitudinally in said sleeve and insertable into a bore inthe end of said shank in aligned positions of said shank and sleeve anda transverse member carried by said plunger and extended through saidsleeve for actuating said plunger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS598,146 Glover Feb. 1, 1898 760,739 Huguley May 24, 1904 1,059,884 LinkApr. 22, 1913 1,548,382 Paul Aug. 4, 1925 2,116,359 McCann May 3, 19382,133,692 Gittings et al. Oct. 18, 1938 2,231,117 Greiner Feb. 11, 19412,469,713 Coleman May 10, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 541,971 Germany Jan. 16,1932

